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President Donald Trump again denied Colorado Gov. Jared Polis’ request for major disaster declarations tied to wildfires and flooding, leaving FEMA public assistance and hazard-mitigation funding unavailable to communities Polis said needed federal help. FEMA acting administrator Karen S. Evans upheld the denials in letters to Polis after what she described as a “thorough review,” according to the letters reported by Polis.
Polis sought major declarations for wildfires that scorched 240 square miles in western Colorado and for floods that inundated mountain communities in southern Colorado last year, actions he said had produced real damage to homes, infrastructure and local economies. He requested FEMA public assistance, which supports debris cleanup and infrastructure rebuilding, and also sought hazard-mitigation funding intended to help states rebuild with more resilience.
Trump had initially rejected the same requests late last year, and Evans’s letters continued that decision after Polis appealed, the Associated Press reported. The letters did not detail the reasons for the denials.
In response, Polis said the outcome was “incredibly disappointing,” adding that the disasters caused real harm and that Coloradans should not have to shoulder costs alone. Polis also said Colorado communities responded quickly, documented damage and worked in good faith with federal officials.
The White House rejected the idea that the denials were driven by politics. In a statement to the Associated Press, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said the administration responds to requests with “great care and consideration” to ensure federal revenue is used appropriately and efficiently to supplement, but not substitute, states’ obligation to respond to disasters.
Jackson also said, “President Trump provides a more thorough review of disaster declaration requests than any administration has before him,” describing the process as more detailed than prior administrations’ reviews. While FEMA assesses damage and uses a formula to analyze potential impact, disaster declarations are ultimately at the president’s discretion, the report said.
Democrats and other state officials have argued that disaster-aid decisions during Trump’s second term have favored states that align politically. The Associated Press reported that nearly 84% of disaster requests from states that voted for Trump were approved, compared with about 42% of requests from states that voted for 2024 Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, based on an analysis of public FEMA data by Andrew Rumbach of the Urban Institute.
Rumbach said he was not certain that politics had clearly played a role, citing the small sample size of requests. “These are definitely questions worth asking, but I haven’t reached a conclusion that there’s clear political bias going on here,” Rumbach said, adding that it was important for FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security to be as transparent as possible about how they make the decisions.
Critics have also pointed to recent denials affecting states led by Democrats, including complaints about Trump’s February rejection of Illinois’ appeal for help recovering from August 2025 floods. In Colorado, Attorney General Phil Weiser has continued pushing back against other recent federal decisions involving the state, according to the report, including disputes over a climate research lab, transportation funding, aid for needy families and the relocation of U.S. Space Command.
The reporting also noted that some U.S. communities have experienced long waits for answers on disaster requests during Trump’s second term, a delay critics say adds pressure on rural towns and counties with smaller budgets. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said last week he would work to clear out part of the backlog of requests ahead of the start of Atlantic hurricane season on June 1, and Trump approved major disaster declaration requests for at least seven states after being briefed by Mullin.